Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.
Military officials said the navy had spotted two rebel suicide boats hidden among fishing boats in seas off the eastern district of Trincomalee and opened fire.
That clash came after the military said it had destroyed 22 rebel vessels off the island's northern tip late on Thursday, undermining pledges by both sides in October to halt the worst violence since a 2002 cease-fire, which now exists only in name.
"We detected two suicide boats (off Trincomalee) this morning and fired at them. There was a huge explosion and they were completely destroyed," a military spokesman said.
The Tigers were not immediately available for comment. In Colombo, the government condemned the murder of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance - widely seen as the Tigers' proxy in parliament - who was shot in the head by a gunman who then fled on a motorcycle. Raviraj, a lawyer, was shot in a residential suburb while on his way to court.
The TNA blamed the government. "It is government forces or forces aligned to the government, there can be no question," TNA leader R. Sampanthan told Reuters.
"This is an attempt to stifle... and silence those who can justifiably espouse the Tamil cause," he added, calling for a probe into the killing. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said he wanted Scotland Yard to probe the murder of the lawmaker, adding it appeared designed to discredit the government.
US CONDEMNATION: US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who is visiting India, said both Washington and New Delhi were "very concerned" about the situation in Sri Lanka.
"That's another horrible act, it's really deplorable," he told a news conference, referring to Raviraj's killing. "It's very important for both sides to understand that they are not gaining anything militarily, they are losing ground in terms of their political standing," Boucher said. "They're certainly not going to get a solution through violence. The only way to do this is to talk and to take viable political positions that can solve this."